HOS 4:10 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) They’ll eat but never be full.
⇔ They’ll sleep around but not prosper,
⇔ because they’ve abandoned Yahweh as their protector.

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative, green:YHWH.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Καὶ φάγονται, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐμπλησθῶσιν· ἐπόρνευσαν, καὶ οὐ μὴ κατευθύνωσι· διότι τὸν Κύριον ἐγκατέλιπον τοῦ φυλάξαι.
(Kai fagontai, kai ou maʸ emplaʸsthōsin; eporneusan, kai ou maʸ kateuthunōsi; dioti ton Kurion egkatelipon tou fulaxai. )

BrTr And they shall eat, and shall not be satisfied: they have gone a-whoring, and shall by no means prosper: because they have left off to take heed to the Lord.

ULT They will eat but not have enough;
⇔ they will play the harlot but not increase,
⇔ because they have forsaken Yahweh to devote themselves to

UST You all will eat, but you will never get enough. You will always be hungry.
⇔ They will continue to sleep with other women, but the women will not conceive,
⇔ because you have all abandoned me, Yahweh.

OEB They will eat and not be satisfied,
⇔ they will sleep around but stay childless,
⇔ because they have abandoned the Lord
⇔ to give themselves to

WEBBE They will eat, and not have enough.
⇔ They will play the prostitute, and will not increase;
⇔ because they have abandoned listening to the LORD.

WMBB (Same as above)

MSG ^(4-10)“But don’t look for someone to blame.
  No finger pointing!
You, priest, are the one in the dock.
  You stumble around in broad daylight,
And then the prophets take over and stumble all night.
  Your mother is as bad as you.
My people are ruined
  because they don’t know what’s right or true.
Because you’ve turned your back on knowledge,
  I’ve turned my back on you priests.
Because you refuse to recognize the revelation of God,
  I’m no longer recognizing your children.
The more priests, the more sin.
  They traded in their glory for shame.
They pig out on my people’s sins.
  They can’t wait for the latest in evil.
The result: You can’t tell the people from the priests,
  the priests from the people.
I’m on my way to make them both pay
  and take the consequences of the bad lives they’ve lived.
They’ll eat and be as hungry as ever,
  have sex and get no satisfaction.
They walked out on me, their God,
  for a life of rutting with whores.

NET They will eat, but not be satisfied;
⇔ they will engage in prostitution, but not increase in numbers;
⇔ because they have abandoned the Lord
⇔ by pursuing other gods.

LSV And they have eaten, and are not satisfied,
They have gone whoring, and do not increase,
For they have left off taking heed to YHWH.

FBV They will eat, but they will not be satisfied; they will engage in prostitution,[fn] but they will not prosper because they have given up on the Lord to go and prostitute themselves to other gods.

4:10 Prostitution here can have various meanings—the basic act of adultery, visiting temple priestesses/prostitutes as part of pagan “worship,” and spiritual prostitution through breaking vows to the true God by following heathen gods.

T4T ⇔ The priests will eat, but they will still be hungry;
⇔ they will have sex with prostitutes, but they will not have any children,
⇔ because they have abandoned me, Yahweh,

LEB • They will eat and not be satisfied; they will play the whore and not multiply,
• because they have forsaken Yahweh to devote themselves to

BBE They will have food, but they will not be full; they will be false to me, but they will not be increased, because they no longer give thought to the Lord.

Moff they shall eat and never be satisfied,
⇔ commit adultery and get no children
⇔ since they have ceased to heed the Eternal.

JPS And they shall eat, and not have enough, they shall commit harlotry, and shall not increase; because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.

ASV And they shall eat, and not have enough; they shall play the harlot, and shall not increase; because they have left off taking heed to Jehovah.

DRA And they shall eat and shall not be filled: they have committed fornication, and have not ceased: because they have forsaken the Lord in not observing his law.

YLT And they have eaten, and are not satisfied, They have gone a-whoring, and increase not, For they have left off taking heed to Jehovah.

Drby and they shall eat, and not have enough; they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: for they have left off taking heed to Jehovah.

RV And they shall eat, and not have enough; they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.
(And they shall eat, and not have enough; they shall commit whoredom/prostitution, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD. )

SLT For they ate and they shall not be satisfied, and they committed fornication and they shall not spread abroad: for with Jehovah they left off to watch.

Wbstr For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall be guilty of lewdness, and shall not increase: because they have ceased to take heed to the LORD.

KJB-1769 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.
(For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom/prostitution, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD. )

KJB-1611 For they shall eate, and not haue enough: they shall commit whordome, and shall not increase, because they haue left off to take heed to the LORD.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps They shal eate and not haue inough, they haue vsed whordome, but shall not prosper, they haue forsaken the Lorde, and not regarded him.
(They shall eat and not have enough, they have used whoredom/prostitution, but shall not prosper, they have forsaken the Lord, and not regarded him.)

Gnva For they shall eate, and not haue ynough: they shall commit adulterie, and shall not increase, because they haue left off to take heede to ye Lord.
(For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit adultery, and shall not increase, because they have left off to take heed to ye/you_all Lord. )

Cvdl They shal eate, & not haue ynough: They haue vsed whordome, therfore shall they not prospere: & why? they haue forsaken the LORDE, & not regarded him.
(They shall eat, and not have enough: They have used whoredom/prostitution, therefore shall they not prosper: and why? they have forsaken the LORD, and not regarded him.)

Wycl And thei schulen ete, and thei schulen not be fillid; thei diden fornicacioun, and ceessiden not, for thei forsoken the Lord in not kepynge.
(And they should eat, and they should not be filled; they did fornication, and ceased not, for they forsook the Lord in not keeping.)

Luth daß sie werden essen und nicht satt werden, Hurerei treiben, und soll ihnen nicht gelingen, darum daß sie den HErr’s verlassen haben und ihn nicht achten.
(that they/she/them become eat and not full/fed_up become, fornication to_drive, and should to_them not succeed, therefore that they/she/them the LORD’s leave have and him/it not regard.)

ClVg Et comedent, et non saturabuntur; fornicati sunt, et non cessaverunt: quoniam Dominum dereliquerunt in non custodiendo.
(And they_will_eat, and not/no they_will_saturateur; fornicati are, and not/no they_ceased/stopped: since/because the_Master they_abandoned in/into/on not/no keependo. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 4:4–11a: The Sinful Priests

In this section, the LORD promised to punish the priests more severely than anyone else, because they were the ones who led the people to worship false gods.

Here are some other examples of section headings:

The Lord Accuses the Priests (GNT)

Against the Priests (NJB)

Paragraph 4:7–11a

In this paragraph, the LORD gave more details about the sinful behavior of the priests (4:7–8). He then described his response to that behavior (4:9–11a).

As in chapter 2, the Hebrew pronouns alternate between “you” and “she.” In 4:4–6 the LORD used “you” when speaking to the priests, but in 4:7–10, he referred to the same priests as “they.” The BSB uses the pronoun “they.” The GNT continues to use “you.” Use a natural way in your language to refer to the priests. Be consistent throughout this paragraph. It should be clear in your translation that the LORD is speaking here to the same group of priests as in 4:4–6.

4:10a–11a

These verses will follow the same interpretation as in 4:9b–c. The focus of these verses is still on the priests.

4:10a–b

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^10a They will eat but not be satisfied;

^10b they will be promiscuous but not multiply,

The underlined parts each describe something that the priests will continue to do. The parts in bold print each describe an unexpected result. The result that the priests expected will not happen.Stuart (page 80) understands the punishments here to be similar to the covenant curses in Deuteronomy. He identifies “unfulfilled expectation” as the style of the curse.

4:10a

They will eat but not be satisfied;

Even though they eat, they will remain hungry.
You^(plur) will eat, but you will not have enough to fill your stomachs.

They will eat but not be satisfied: This line means that the amount of food the priests eat will not be enough to satisfy their hunger.According to Macintosh (page 149), verse 4:10a may refer back to 4:3a, which tells of the drought that the nation is suffering.

Here are some other ways to translate this line:

Even though they eat, they will always remain hungry

They eat, but there is not enough to fill their stomachs

Their food won’t satisfy (CEV)

4:10b

they will be promiscuous but not multiply.

Even though they often sleep with prostitutes, they will father no children.
You^(plur) have sex with many people that are not your spouse, but you^(plur) will remain childless,

they will be promiscuous but not multiply: The meaning of this line is that no children will be born as a result of the immoral behavior of the priests.

Here are some other ways to translate this line:

Although they frequently sleep with prostitutes, their numbers will not increase

They are sexually promiscuous but they will remain childless

They will…resort to prostitutes and never have children (REB)

be promiscuous: In Hebrew, this term means to have sexual relations that were against the law of the LORD. It included prostitution that was part of worship in false religions.Stuart (page 80), Andersen and Freedman (page 362), Chisholm (page 1389), and Wood (page 186). Here the term may refer partly to this type of prostitution. For example:

You will worship the fertility gods (GNT)

However, it probably refers more generally to any kind of prostitution as well as to other immoral behavior, such as adultery and fornication. Use a natural term in your language that refers to prostitution or to sexual immorality in general.

Here as elsewhere in the book of Hosea, the term variously translated as promiscuous or some form of harlotry or prostitution can be understood both literally and figuratively at the same time. It refers literally to sexual sin and figuratively to the worship of false gods. If possible, translate the phrase so that the literal and figurative meanings can both be understood.

not multiply: This phrase probably means to not multiply in numbers.According to Stuart (page 80), it may have a figurative meaning: they will not increase “in honor, prestige, or wealth.” The NLT phrase “gain nothing from it” probably includes this figurative meaning. Other versions normally cited in TN probably support the literal meaning “not increase in number” or “not have any children.”

4:10c

For they have stopped obeying the LORD.

These things will happen because they have abandoned Yahweh
because you^(plur) have forsaken me

For they have stopped obeying the LORD: The word For introduces the reason for the results in 4:10a–b. The priests will experience the unexpected results of 4:10a–b, because they had deserted the LORD. In some languages, it may be more natural to put the reason before the results. For example:

^10c–11aThey have stopped obeying the LORD for promiscuity. ^10a–bTherefore, although they eat, they will not be satisfied. Although they frequently sleep with prostitutes, their numbers will not multiply.

they have stopped obeying the LORD: Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

My people have rebelled (CEV)

for they have abandoned the Lord (REB)

you have turned away from me (GNT)

the LORD: Here the LORD speaks of himself using a third person reference: the LORD. If it is not natural in your language for someone to refer to himself in this way, you may make a first person pronoun (I/me) explicit. For example:

you have turned away from me (GNT)

have been unfaithful to me, their Lord (CEV)

4:10d–12a

These lines contain interpretation issues that involve verse and paragraph boundaries as well as differences in the object(s) of the verb. Here is a comparison of the verse and paragraph breaks in the BSB, NIV, and the NRSV. The BSB has:

^10cFor they have stopped obeying the LORD. ^11aPromiscuity, ^11bwine, and new wine take away understanding. ^12aMy people consult their wooden idols (BSB)

The NIV has:

^10dto give themselves ^11ato prostitution, ^11bto old wine and new, which take away the understanding ^12aof my people. They consult a wooden idol (NIV)

The NRSV has:

^10dto devote themselves to ^11awhoredom.

^11bWine and new wine take away the understanding. ^12aMy people consult a piece of wood, (NRSV)

TN will first discuss the interpretation issue in 4:10d–11b. It will then discuss the issue in 4:11b–12a.

4:10d–11b

The NRSV has been used as the source line for 4:10d-11b, because it allows for the recommended interpretation.

(NRSV) to devote themselves to whoredom. Wine and new wine take away the understanding: There are three ways to interpret the object(s) of the Hebrew verb that the NRSV translates as devote themselves to:

The object of the verb is the first term that follows it (prostitution).The LXX and Syriac follow this interpretation. With this interpretation, the next two terms (old wine and new wine), are the subject of the next verb (take away). For example:
they have forsaken the Lord to devote themselves to whoredom. Wine and new wine take away the understanding. (NRSV) (GNT, NAB, NJB, NJPS, NRSV, REB)The GNT has the same structure as the other versions that follow interpretation (1). However, the GNT understands “prostitution” symbolically. It has: “you have turned away from me to follow other gods.”
The objects of the verb are the three terms that follow it (prostitution, old wine, and new wine). With this interpretation, all three terms are also the subject of the next verb (take away). For example:
they have left the Lord to give themselves to prostitution, to old and new wine, which take away their ability to understand. (NCV) (ESV, NCV, NIV)
The object of the verb is the term that precedes it (the LORD). With this interpretation, the three terms that follow the verb (prostitution, old wine, and new wine) are the subject of the next verb (take away). For example:
they have stopped giving heed to the Lord. Harlotry, wine and new wine take away the understanding. (NASB) (BSB, GW, KJV, NASB)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most versions. It better fits the way that prostitution and wine are described in Hosea and the rest of the Old Testament.

Throughout the OT, Israel’s rejection of the LORD is closely linked with prostitution, both literal and spiritual. Wine is not connected with rejecting the LORD. Moreover, wine is often described as something that keeps people from thinking clearly. Prostitution is not usually described in those terms.Another reason to follow interpretation (1) is that it has fewer grammatical difficulties than the other interpretations. The verb “take away” is singular in Hebrew. With interpretation (1), the nouns “new wine” and “old wine” agree with the verb, because they function as a single unit. With interpretations (2) and (3), all three nouns would not agree with the singular verb unless all three function as a single unit. That is improbable.

4:10d–11a

(NRSV) to devote themselves to: In Hebrew, this phrase is a single word. Here it indicates that the priests enthusiastically gratify their sexual desires and worship idols.

(NRSV) whoredom: This word is a noun form related to the verb that the BSB translated as “be promiscuous” in 4:10b. See the note there.

4:10d–11a

Promiscuity,

in order to devote themselves to prostitution instead.”
in order to sleep with prostitutes and to worship other gods.”

Parallel HOS 4:10

Section 4:4–11a: The Sinful Priests

Paragraph 4:7–11a

4:10a–11a

4:10a–b

4:10a

4:10b

4:10c

4:10d–12a

4:10d–11b

4:10d–11a

4:10d–11a

General Information: